By Neal Wooten
With the popularity of the book, Hillbilly Elegy, and the subsequent movie on Netflix of the same name, it seems the appeal of backwoods country folks is still in demand. People from other parts of the country and other parts of the world are intrigued by the lives of rural living.
Years ago, I was sitting in my office in Milwaukee, and the phone rang. It was a lady from New York City. She was the producer of a new hillbilly reality show and had been told I would be perfect for it. She wanted me for the pilot episode. “Tell me about it,” I said.
“It’s called Hillbilly Intervention,” she began. “It’s about people who grew up in the rural south but moved away and never looked back because they hate the area and the people. We bring them back home so their relatives can confront them.”
“Sounds interesting,” I said, “but I wouldn’t be a fit at all. I love where I grew up and the people and get back as much as I can.”
She was a little disappointed but understood. About six months later, I was sitting in my office, and the phone rang. A man told me he was from Los Angeles and the producer of a hillbilly reality show. He said, and I quote, “I was told you’re the go-to guy for rednecks.”
If that doesn’t make you proud, what will? What became apparent, however, was that these shows and others like them only want to play on the stigma of hillbillies and portray them in a less-than-favorable way. Even the book, Hillbilly Elegy, tries to capitalize on the image of rural mountain families as being simple and uneducated. I don’t like that at all.
I’m not really bothered by the documentary shows, talent shows, law enforcement shows, or sporting shows, but I am particularly offended by the emergence of all the hillbilly reality shows that simply try to make fun of southerners. Earlier shows like Snake Man and Hillbilly Hand Fishin’ were bad enough, but that show, Turtle Man, was the worst. Of course, it might just be because he traveled around with a fat, bearded hillbilly named Neal. That hit too close to home.
While trying to get my latest book published, a memoir about growing up on Sand Mountain, my agent has received flattering comments from all the major publishers: Random House, Penguin, Harper Collins, Hachette, Doubleday, Knopf, and a dozen others. While they all loved the story, many of the editors were surprised and enlightened that my book does not make fun of hillbillies but tells the story from an accurate perspective with pride.